Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

Metblogs: sometimes a redesign is a pre-design

I love the mea culpa here: Sean Bonner not only gets the new design right, he has the gumption to explain why the previous design got things wrong (for the users).

posted at 3:09 pm
on Aug. 31, 2009

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NYT article About the ongoing ad war between Apple and PC

Though I have to say: it's not that apple is fighting with Microsoft in their ads; they're fighting with the whole PC paradigm.

posted at 9:25 am
on Aug. 31, 2009

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Disney to Buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 Billion

Spider-Man soon to be changed to Mouse-Man.

posted at 9:22 am
on Aug. 31, 2009

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The Sounds of Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled: Getting video game sounds right

Super interesting article. Great sound clips.

posted at 5:06 pm
on Aug. 29, 2009

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A Blunt, Simple Editorial Cartoon About Torture, Redacted

Yep.

posted at 2:08 pm
on Aug. 28, 2009

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A ten-minute video of a car on fire at night

Actually very interesting.

posted at 11:56 am
on Aug. 28, 2009

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Local tech store NCIX is having a sale - with the WEIRDEST sale poster I have ever seen!

How does this make me want to buy a new hard drive? I do not know.

posted at 1:39 pm
on Aug. 27, 2009

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An Essay on Forgiveness and Resentment, by Ariane Khachatourians

So many quotable lines: "Choosing compassion over resentment frees up space in your life for more good to come in." I wish more people were this clear-thinking (and wrote blogs!)

posted at 10:34 am
on Aug. 27, 2009

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Ball Park Franks Introduces New Foot-Wide Hotdogs

Yum!

posted at 2:49 pm
on Aug. 26, 2009

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Laptop left on couch caused fire, blamed for Vancouver man’s death

I left mine on the couch last night. Scary!

posted at 2:37 pm
on Aug. 26, 2009

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Keeping Berries from Going Moldy by Dunking Them Briefly in Very Hot Water

I know. It sounds crazy. But it ain't.

posted at 11:45 am
on Aug. 26, 2009

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Papa John’s owner pays $250,000 to buy back his original beloved 1971 Camaro

Thing is, I cna totally understand this emotion. I would LOVE to have my first car, Samantha, back.

posted at 11:43 am
on Aug. 26, 2009

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5 ever-more effective versions of a Twitter event announcement, by Jakob Nielsen

Want to know how best to promote your event with Twitter? Here are a bunch of good tips about timing, crafting and linking.

posted at 12:52 am
on Aug. 26, 2009

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Short techno animation of synchronized printers spitting out paper patterns

Thanks, Rachael, for the pointer!

posted at 9:50 pm
on Aug. 25, 2009

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BC law: no beer larger than 17.5 oz. Federal law: no ‘pint’ smaller than 19.5 ozs. (via @rcousine)

Interesting story that basically says, every bar they tested in B.C. that claims to serve a 'pint' is lying.

posted at 2:22 am
on Aug. 24, 2009

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Bloviation: this opinion piece, newspapers colluding to set the price of news online, is repulsive

The poll at the top says it all: "Should newspapers charge for content on the Internet? * Yes, so they can stay in business. * No, all content on the Internet should be free."

posted at 2:13 am
on Aug. 24, 2009

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KFC’s new ‘Double Down’ bacon cheese sandwich replaces bread with two chicken patties

Think of it like an entire chicken torso, whose heart has been replaced with bacon and cheese.

posted at 11:03 am
on Aug. 21, 2009

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Bird uses body as dam to stop drainpipe soaking chicks

Kinda neat.

posted at 11:30 pm
on Aug. 20, 2009

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Music video: Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please

Heh. Yeah. Eh.

posted at 12:19 am
on Aug. 20, 2009

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How Much Objective Time Does Bill Murray Spend Reliving Groundhog Day?

More importantly: How much time did you just spend reading about it?

posted at 10:06 am
on Aug. 19, 2009

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Why are shrimp, which used to be a rare treat, so darn cheap now? Shocking.

And they used to be so tiny, now they're JUMBO!

posted at 10:03 am
on Aug. 19, 2009

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Music Video: Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?

The Guild is a pretty funny webisode show.

posted at 11:05 am
on Aug. 18, 2009

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85% of Canadian money tests positive for cocaine traces

Perhaps this explains why it's worth so much more these days. 😊

posted at 6:52 pm
on Aug. 17, 2009

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Good summary of reversals (aka lies the B.C. Liberals told before the election)

Turnstiles are apparently the least of their about-faces.

posted at 6:51 pm
on Aug. 17, 2009

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To Follow or Not to Follow: A Twitter Guide

I have another rule: Do they twitter more or less often than you do? More often: Shut the hell up! Less often: Hooray, that means you can listen to me tweet all the time! (Note: Please don't apply this rule to me.)

posted at 2:45 pm
on Aug. 17, 2009

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B.C Liberals promised turnstiles for SkyTrain by spring 2010, but new ‘likely’ date is 2012

That's a pretty significant election promise to make and break.

posted at 1:01 am
on Aug. 17, 2009

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Healthy woman spending a week in a wheelchair for week 6 of a 52-week art project

Neat project, neat week.

posted at 3:11 pm
on Aug. 14, 2009

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Dim Sum and Polyamory

posted at 1:17 pm
on Aug. 14, 2009

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Amazon S3 now offers import and export of data via drives you ship them

Handy for initial backups, great for restoring when things go wrong

posted at 10:48 am
on Aug. 14, 2009

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About 3% of people have a gene that means they only need only 6 hours of sleep a night

The big question: if you could give that mutant gene to your unborn child -- would you?

posted at 10:14 am
on Aug. 14, 2009

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the antidote to ‘chasing gigs’: find 10,000 people

This is the antidote to the 'overextended class' that @luckyfish was twittering about.

posted at 4:59 pm
on Aug. 13, 2009

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Man injured in Vancouver shooting three blocks from my house

But it was on the other side of Oak St., in EAST Vancouver. 😊

posted at 2:44 pm
on Aug. 13, 2009

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The 8 Most Ill-Conceived Product Names of All-Time (thanks @monicahamburg)

My favorite line: 'Reebok's ad team consisted entirely of a random word generator and a macaw who only knew the word "yes." '

posted at 1:34 pm
on Aug. 13, 2009

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Hackers crack Campaign Monitor accounts, CM blogs about it, gets 90% positive feedback

I'm very, very surprised at how genuinely sympathetic and supportive their customers are being. Just goes to show what blogging openly and honestly can do to help improve people's reactions to your company's problems.

posted at 12:09 pm
on Aug. 11, 2009

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Study: 1 in 10 teens has posted a nude or seminude picture online

Shocking-sounding study, but what the hell is seminude? And who the heck is "Common Sense Media" who commissioned the study?

posted at 10:00 am
on Aug. 11, 2009

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How ‘Fail’ Went From Occasional Verb to Massively Overused Interjection

Interesting reading not just for 'fail' but for #hashtags, #lolcats and other internet terms explained.

posted at 12:40 am
on Aug. 10, 2009

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The 5 Most Badass Things Ever Done By Jungle Cats

I like the Lion Drome. Incidentally, Cracked has gone from being a second-rate humor magazine to being the most outrageous, funny, long-form blog writing I know of. Also, it's a total Digg magnet.

posted at 12:34 pm
on Aug. 7, 2009

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If everyone in China jumped off chairs at once, would the earth be thrown out of its orbit?

This is one of my favorite columnists, and one of his best, if simplest, questions answered.

posted at 10:46 am
on Aug. 7, 2009

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A blog entry about Alison, John Hughes’ life-long teen pen pal

Insight into why Hughes left the Hollywood machine, and what it takes to be creative, and why his movies were so touchingly truthful.

posted at 9:26 am
on Aug. 7, 2009

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Report: For a Hangover Cure, try a Bacon Sandwich.

Also tasty when you DON'T have a hangover.

posted at 9:19 am
on Aug. 7, 2009

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Video: Freestyle Rap Battle translated into polite english

Pretty awesome: I like the part where he talks about the neighbourhood he's from.

posted at 11:54 am
on Aug. 5, 2009

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The 10 Manliest Names Ever

These are real people only, which is why they left out Max Power, Homer's name for one episode of The Simpsons.

posted at 8:00 am
on Aug. 5, 2009

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Vancouver agency Rethink does clever ad in back hair at Kits Beach

If by clever you mean: making your viewers retch.

posted at 12:47 am
on Aug. 5, 2009

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A 50% reliable way to send U.S. mail days late without getting a late postmark

Could be good for rent checks, taxes, back-dated love letters, etc.

posted at 6:17 pm
on Aug. 4, 2009

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Woman drags kid on a leash through a Verizon Store

And when I say 'drags', I mean, not just a little. Seriously bad parenting.

posted at 4:02 pm
on Aug. 4, 2009

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Record company embraces use of its music in YouTube wedding video, makes money

Also, this video might make you cry with joy. Just in case you're wondering.

posted at 12:07 pm
on Aug. 3, 2009

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YouTube - POST-IT LOVE

Cute stuff.

posted at 11:47 am
on Aug. 3, 2009

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Happy Cog merges with Airbag Industries

This will be one among many Web design company mergers.

posted at 10:56 am
on Aug. 3, 2009

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Nick Maimone, 22-year-old, poker-playing Christian

I guess it's profile week here on Five Live Links...

posted at 9:19 am
on Aug. 3, 2009

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Google CEO leaves Apple board as companies compete

Anything to do with Apple's block of the Google apps? I think yes.

posted at 7:13 am
on Aug. 3, 2009

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A great, and VERY long article about Julia Child

Worth the time it takes to read

posted at 5:44 pm
on Aug. 2, 2009

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The Checkered Career of Philip Schwab, Demolition Man

An pitch-perfect profile of a charming guy living on the edge of the law for his whole life.

posted at 5:40 pm
on Aug. 2, 2009

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A beautiful Cartoon about invention and america

Go do it: Invent something.

posted at 10:45 am
on Aug. 2, 2009

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Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

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